Northwestern Mutual has helped clients achieve financial security for nearly 160 years. The company offers a comprehensive approach to financial planning, offering risk management solutions and investment services. As a mutual company with over $1.5 trillion of life insurance protection in force, Northwestern Mutual has no shareholders and focuses solely and directly on its clients and seeks to deliver consistent and dependable value over time. Northwestern Mutual is the marketing name for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, WI (life insurance, disability insurance, annuities) and its subsidiaries (Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC, broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, member FINRA and SIPC).

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A Parent's Greatest Gift: Financial Planning

Last year, Rebekah Barsch suffered a loss that is almost unimaginable. Within a period of 10 days, both her mother and stepfather passed away after lengthy illnesses. Although it was an emotionally difficult time in her life, Barsch said the experience was made easier because her parents had a solid financial plan in place. “The best present my parents ever gave me, other than their love, was planning for their long-term care needs,” she said. “When their health began to decline, I don’t know how I would have supported them emotionally and financially. But because their financial and health care needs were being met, it was possible for me to concentrate on what I was uniquely qualified to do—provide love and support as a daughter.”

Financial planning is something Barsch knows about all too well. She’s been in the industry for more than 20 years and, as executive officer and vice president of planning and sales at Northwestern Mutual, she deals with financial planning every day. While Barsch said she’s always been resolute about her own personal financial planning, her parents’ illness and passing brought it all closer to home. “Living through a stage where my parents had health issues and ultimately passed away has shown me how the financial planning that takes place over the course of a lifetime actually comes to fruition,” she said. “And it’s helped me to better understand how to put the building blocks in place for my own family.”

For example, when the time came to distribute the assets from her parents’ estate, Barsch said she and her siblings learned firsthand how all assets are not created—or distributed—equally. “We were amazed at the difference in experiences we had based on the various types of assets that were left to us,” she said. Because of the way insurance works, “The life insurance policies were, by far, the easiest for us to manage. There were no additional steps to take. In our case, the proceeds were tax free, and they were paid quickly and efficiently. That wasn’t necessarily the case with other assets in the estate.”

Looking back on her experience, Barsch said the death of her parents opened her eyes to a new way of thinking about insurance as a component of financial planning. “When people think about purchasing insurance, they often think about it from the perspective of whether they’re willing to take a personal risk—a risk that they become injured or disabled or die,” said Barsch. “This situation forced me to look at insurance and financial planning through the eyes of my own children. I now ask myself, if I weren’t here, what kind of financial planning can I do now that will make it easiest for them to carry on?”

Like her parents before her, Barsch said she wants to ease the burden for her own children as much as possible. “This experience has taught me that there are many ways to achieve that—some easier than others—and that thoughtful financial planning can make a significant financial and emotional impact for those who are left behind.”

The Northwestern MutualVoice Team is a group of professionals who share insights and opinions from experts and industry leaders across the enterprise. Our vision is to inspire others to take action and plan for their financial future through topics ranging from financial planning, retirement planning and distribution strategies, wealth accumulation and preservation, to leadership, philanthropy and innovation.